PREC 10-01   Limitation on payment of compensation and pension benefits while a beneficiary is incarcerated pursuant to 38 U.S.C. §§ 5313 &1505     Citation: Vet. Aff. Op. Gen. Couns. Prec. 10-01,  VAOPGCPREC 10-01, 2001 

QUESTIONS PRESENTED:

Whether a veteran is subject to reduction of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) compensation and pension benefits, under 38 U.S.C. §§ 5313 and 1505, where the veteran is convicted of a crime in a foreign country, incarcerated abroad, and subsequently transferred to a penal institution of the United States to serve the remainder of the criminal sentence?

What is the effective date of reduction, under 38 U.S.C. §§ 5313 and 1505, where a veteran is convicted of a crime in a foreign country and incarcerated abroad, then transferred to a penal institution in the United States to serve the remainder of the criminal sentence?

HELD:

1. A veteran is not subject to reduction of compensation and pension benefits, under

38 U.S.C. §§ 5313 and 1505, while incarcerated in a foreign prison. However, a veteran who is transferred to a Federal, State, or local penal institution in the United States to serve the remainder of a sentence for a foreign conviction of an offense which is equivalent to a felony (or a misdemeanor under §1505) under the laws of the United States is thereafter subject to reduction of compensation and pension benefits under

38 U.S.C. §§ 5313 and 1505.

2. The effective date of reduction is the sixty-first day of incarceration in a Federal, State, or local penal institution in the United States.